First Impressions Archive

Tatuaje TAA 2016

Lately, I’ve been smoking a lot of the limited releases from cigar companies for the Tobacconists’ Association of America or TAA. Only select shops can carry these cigars as they have to be a member of TAA. These limited releases are usually very good cigars, though hard to find. You can find a list of the shops that are TAA members here. These shops have an option to buy these special release cigars and, now that …

A couple of weeks ago one of the guys from Sir Stogies sent me a text message. He was letting me know that Edolara from Cigar Noise was in town and planned on stopping by the shop for an impromptu smoke, if I wanted to join them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get away and missed out on a very good time.

I stopped by the shop a couple of days later and got caught up on what I had …

As the minutes ticked by I found myself stuck. My notes weren’t ready for a Week In Smoke, and I didn’t feel motivated enough to do one of the reviews I planned for this week. But I really wanted to try one of my Fuente Fuente OpusX Rosado Oscuro Oros, a late Christmas present to myself. Ordinarily I’d let these cigars sit for a while, but recent experience has indicated that the OpusX is often ready to go, right off …

The spooky season is upon us, and I just happened to pick up a few of this year’s Tatuaje Monster Series The Hyde. Now ordinarily, I’d set these rarities to the side in the humidor and light one up in about a month (or three), but I thought it’d be fun to light one up right off the truck, as they say. And as long as I was already doing half the work of a cigar review, I might as …

A big thank you to Sam Morales of Drew Estate (you may know him as @drewestatedata on social media) for sending me this event exclusive Kentucky Fire Cured Yard Bird. It made its first appearance at the second annual Kentucky Barn Smoker in the Hopkinsville, KY on October 3rd. It then made its first appearance in my ashtray for this first impressions review a few days later on October 6th.

I’m back this week with a first impressions video featuring the Quesada Oktoberfest 2015 Bavarian and I paired it with Samuel Adams Oktoberfest. A similar combination served me well in the past and since I’ve been doing a liquid tour of Oktoberfest offerings anyway, it just made sense. Of course, with the passing of time, tastes and tobacco crops change, so there are never any guarantees. All one can do is pour the beer and light the cigar and see …

Several weeks back I got an awesome care package from Jerry Cruz. Inside the package was a number of cigars I hadn’t had the pleasure of smoking yet. One of them was the Azul Vintage 2008 from Epicurean Cigars – Distributed by House of Emilio.

Lighting up the Azul Vintage 2008, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. The last time I smoked anything associated with Steve Ysidron, it was when he was with Savinelli. …

I want to let you in on a little secret. I have a pretty bad habit of firing up a cigar and pressing record on my camcorder. I record a review, or two, with the intention of going back and editing prior to posting here on Stogie Review.

Every once in a while (actually, a lot more often than that), a review gets forgotten and gets stuck in some sort of review purgatory on a memory card. I stumble onto …

Recently I was invited by Davidoff to attend their launch party of their new cigar line, Davidoff Nicaragua, in New York City. I went with my local shop owner, Paul Bertucci of The Cigar Shop in Biloxi, MS, as they are an appointed Davidoff White Label merchant. We flew in Thursday morning for the event later that night in downtown Manhattan. Davidoff had a DJ playing music as images of exploration adventure were projected on the walls. Jim Young, president …

Sadly, smoking a cigar has become a relatively rare event for me lately, as everything at home and work has been so busy. Having finally found an opportunity to enjoy a nice, long, relaxing smoke, I sifted through my coolidor looking for something truly top-shelf. A while back, our friend Keith Park of Prometheus sent me a wonderful Limited Edition God of Fire 9-cigar Assortment. I’ve been spreading these out a bit, only smoking them on special occasions in …